Mayor off to regional public sector summit

WELLINGTON Mayor Celia Wade-Brown (right) will head to Malaysia in the middle of this month to attend a meeting of regional government, education and healthcare leaders.

The FutureGov summit – in Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya, from October 12 to 14 – is for senior public sector officials from the Asia Pacific region.

Travel, accommodation and food costs will be covered by the organisers, Wellington city councillors were told at their September 28 meeting, which gave unanimous approval for the trip.

“We’re going to be telling Wellington’s story to the world,” said Ms Wade-Brown.

“It’s also a two-way process. I’ll be learning from the world about how they might achieve their goals and how that fits in with the four pillars of the city we are shaping for Wellington.”

More than 135 organisations from 30 countries are expected to attend the summit, including representatives from Australia, China, the US and India.

Councillor Ian McKinnon said topics being covered there fit in with the strategic direction of the council, specifically digital cities, city engagement, and the public performance of local government.

Councillor Helene Ritchie asked who was sponsoring the Mayor’s invitation.

Mr McKinnon said the sponsors are FutureGov Research, a group that gets financial backing from SAP, Visa, Blackberry, Esri, Intermec, Crimson Logic, IML, Puffersoft Labs and Lockheed Martin, the world’s number one military contractor.

The FutureGov website touts the summit as a “closed door event that takes place in a 5-star resort away from the distractions of your daily routine”.